Ritual grain container (gui)
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.This vessel is from a special order of ritual bronzes by a high official for the Confucian temple in Kunshan. Its design inspiration comes from Xuanhe bogutu, a catalogue of the twelfth-century imperial collection. A comparison of the vessels to the woodblock illustrations shows that they accurately and beautifully replicated their prototypes’ forms and decoration.
Inscription
周太師望簋
明監察御史張淮， 時成化甲辰歲巡按南畿， 命通判蘇州府事邵福， 李智依圖造於崑山縣之廟學
Vessel gui of the Grand Preceptor Wang of the Zhou dynasty.
In the jiachen year of the Chenghua reign [1484], Zhang Huai, the Investigating Censor of the Ming, inspected Nanji and ordered Shao Fu and Li Zhi … to make [this vessel] in accordance with the diagram [from Xuanhe bogutu] for the Confucian school of Kunshan County.
Inscription
周太師望簋
明監察御史張淮， 時成化甲辰歲巡按南畿， 命通判蘇州府事邵福， 李智依圖造於崑山縣之廟學
Vessel gui of the Grand Preceptor Wang of the Zhou dynasty.
In the jiachen year of the Chenghua reign [1484], Zhang Huai, the Investigating Censor of the Ming, inspected Nanji and ordered Shao Fu and Li Zhi … to make [this vessel] in accordance with the diagram [from Xuanhe bogutu] for the Confucian school of Kunshan County.
Artwork Details
- 明成化 昆山縣學祭器銅簋
- Title: Ritual grain container (gui)
- Period: Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
- Date: 1484
- Culture: China
- Medium: Copper alloy
- Dimensions: H. 8 1/16 in. (20.5 cm); W. 12 5/8 in. (32 cm)
- Classification: Metalwork
- Credit Line: Lent by Shanghai Museum
- Rights and Reproduction: Photograph courtesy of Shanghai Museum
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art